Lincoln Wards Off Shortfall

CHECKS HELP DISTRICT MEET PAYROLL

LINCOLN — Thanks to money coming to the Lincoln Consolidated School District in time, a financial shortfall was averted this month.

Dax Moreton, president, got down to business at the Aug. 12 Lincoln School Board meeting by bringing up a discussion at last month’s workshop meeting about July being a month with little revenue coming in and a lot of debt payments going out. At the informal July meeting due to a lack of quorum to call a meeting to order, a possible loan was discussed as a possibility to meet August payroll.

“At that time we thought we might have a shortfall in August,” Moreton said. He then asked Mary Ann Spears, superintendent, to bring the board up to date.

Spears said the shortfall had been averted due to $98,000 in property tax revenue coming in and TAP, a federal teacher’s incentive grant program, had sent a $130,000 reimbursement check it owed the district.

The district’s payroll for this month is about $ 626,000. The district also will be receiving about $560,000 from the state, which will be based on last year’s enrollment of 1,218 students.

“We’ll have more than enough, so we’re good to go now,” Spears said, adding the concern last month had been brought on by the $800,000 payments structured for July, mostly for the new high school. The high debt service payment comes at a time when the district has little revenue coming in.

Spears said it will be five years before the district can get the debt payment for the new school moved to a month with more revenue income.

“We’re already looking ahead to next July,” Spears said, referring to the district possibly having the same shortfall next year due to the July 2015 payment on the high school. The district doesn’t receive any state revenue or property tax revenue that month.

Spears said the district still had not received the amount of federal funds they will receive for this school year which will probably be down due to federal budget changes, popularly known as the sequester, in March.

The board approved the projected revenue for the 2013-14 school year after approving a transfer of $ 123,150 from the general fund to the building fund requested by Spears.

The board approved the resignations of Samanath Molz, Ann Taylor and Devin Bryan. They approved the hiring of Marsha Hedge for fifth grade, Karen Martin for transportation, Stephanie Mitchell for middle school special education, Valerie Smith for high school counselor, Kathy Snodgrass for elementary art, Emily Timpe for sixth grade, Tracy Winningham for in- school suspension, Carman Higgins for middle school aide and reassigned Michelle Flickinger to high school counselor secretary.

In July the board reassigned Crystal Beshears as high school master teacher and Farla Steel as .50 high school teacher and .50 elementary counselor. The board approved the hiring of Jana Claybrook as district master teacher, Kelsi Bartholomew as third grade teacher, Angela Crump and Rachel Byrd for fourth grade, Krista McClurg for seventh grade literacy, Gina McClellan as middle school master teacher, Lindsey Bounds as middle school mentor teacher, Jennifer Huffmaster as middle school mentor teacher, Lesha Bias for six hours food service, Joan Bachman for middle school resource, Billy Mere for band and Ashly Alexander for six hours food service.